\n online retail and difficult economic conditions.\n <\/p>\n
Beyond these retail giants, there are local, brick-and-mortar retailers and designers responding to the way customers want to shop. They\u2019re adapting sensibilities of the department store \u2013 browsing multiple brands across islands, considering clothing, homeware, art and accessories in one space, consulting grand displays \u2013 to suit 2026. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s encapsulated in the smallest of moves: this month, Ponsonby\u2019s luxury retail boutique The Shelter picked up designs from Twenty Seven Names (which shuttered its only Auckland store in January), as well as pieces from established and upcoming designers at underground fashion week Te Wiki \u0100hua o Aotearoa<\/a>.<\/p>\n There have been bigger moves, too: following Crushes\u2019 shift to the corner boutique<\/a> on Karangahape Rd, its team are set to welcome Thea Matcha into their space and are calling out for tailors, florists, artists and other makers who want to share it. <\/p>\n What model are local retailers, designers and creatives turning to during economic hardship? And why does it matter for customers in New Zealand? <\/p>\n The Keep <\/p>\n For Lela Jacobs, a studio and retail space called The Keep came as a need for change.<\/p>\n The designer was living in an Auckland granny flat and trying to make the small space work \u201cin a crazy way\u201d for her fledgling eponymous label. Jacobs remembers placing a piece of plywood over her mattress to cut materials, and then pushing it aside to sleep. <\/p>\n The set up wasn\u2019t working, so when she visited a historic site going up for lease on Karangahape Rd, she took a leap. Jacobs ran the space as The Keep, enjoying momentum for her own label. But it was a lot to do solo. The many shifts of 2020 revealed more demand for change. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was a lot of stress around that time, and I was like, do we keep The Keep? I didn\u2019t want to lose it. It was just too much of an important space.\u201d <\/p>\n The answer was to welcome in a collective. The Keep was a site of collaboration for years, and designer Wilbur Hsu had previously signalled interest in the retail model to Jacobs. The two worked to bring other designers into the space \u2013 so far, the studio has hosted Emma Jing<\/a>, Shannen Young<\/a> and Julianna Jung of Outerlines<\/a>, among others. <\/p>\n Now, The Keep hums as a collective open showroom. The makers, or \u201cKeepers\u201d, share studio space, lend tools to each other and gather for both gossip and artistic advice. <\/p>\n Each maker is assigned a day to look after the shop, managing the retail trade out the front. It\u2019s taking the pressure off Jacobs and running well: The Keep has just signed the lease for two more years and they\u2019re looking for another maker to join the collective (Rudy hasn\u2019t mastered the sewing machine just yet). <\/p>\n For jeweller Grace Nosworthy, The Keep is infrastructural. <\/p>\n \u201cThe really important thing that I found being a [young] maker or creative in New Zealand is that so many creatives leave because there\u2019s nothing here. <\/p>\n \u201cLela is making this beautiful creative venture for younger makers and I think it also shows other young people ways to be creative here when it\u2019s not conventional.\u201d <\/p>\n The collective also strengthens belief in her work during hard times. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been like, \u2018oh, I just don\u2019t know if I can do it anymore.\u2019 And someone was like, \u2018It\u2019s really great you\u2019re here because you\u2019re taking a chance on yourself.\u2019 Things like that have really stuck with me.\u201d <\/p>\n And The Keep has impact in our local fashion scene. Last year, as a part of New Zealand Fashion Week, The Keep sold out two back-to-back runway shows<\/a> at Ponsonby bar Goblin \u2013 pieces from all the Keepers were showcased together in a show scored by a theremin. The moment celebrated the surrounding community and showcased the platform in action. <\/p>\n For Jacobs, adaptation has been non-negotiable in remaining open to both makers and customers. <\/p>\n \u201cUnless you\u2019re heavily financed [and] secure, it\u2019s quite impossible to \u2013 over the last five or six years \u2013 have been running. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not incredibly romantic but it\u2019s just honest. If you want to keep going then you have to be really smart about how you\u2019re going to do that.\u201d <\/p>\n Gemini Vintage & Dead Man Vintage <\/p>\n A short walk down the road, another two creatives have adopted a similar model. <\/p>\n The blushing boutique<\/a> houses Helen Olivia Anstis of Gemini Vintage and Kate Buckley\u2019s Dead Man as roommates. A metaphorical line of tape divides the shop into two \u2013 separating their collections of New Zealand and international vintage clothing and accessories (eagle-eyed customers will notice the handpainted signage<\/a> on the window corresponds to each clothing collection). <\/p>\n The antiquarians first met, they think, in the mid-2000s \u2013 Anstis was studying fashion and Buckley was working in film and costume \u2013 before both moving to different parts of the US. They reconnected through the Central Flea Markets.<\/p>\n After some \u201csleuthing\u201d online, Anstis came across the boutique on Great North Rd. The two vintage sellers opened the store in September. <\/p>\n \u201cSo we share the space, the overheads, the time,\u201d Buckley says. <\/p>\n \u201cWe keep each other motivated and we keep each other creative and we deal with the highs and lows together.\u201d <\/p>\n They each work three days in the shop and share in the need to balance other priorities.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a mum as well. That\u2019s quite important to me because I have a little kid \u2013 she\u2019s sympathetic to that,\u201d Anstis says. <\/p>\n Buckley previously ran Dead Man Vintage in a shop on Ponsonby Rd. <\/p>\n \u201cThat whole model of being locked into a really expensive lease and having to pay that rent every month and struggling and if it\u2019s quiet, you\u2019re kind of ruined. It\u2019s just too much in this climate.\u201d <\/p>\n The duo took a DIY approach to the fit-out (with the help of family, friends and local makers). They painted the walls a signature pink, learned to thread industrial metal pipes to create racks, built shelves from recycled wood and sewed a lush changing room curtain. The window displays, like a traditional department store, are a big focus. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve tried to keep it local and recycled to fit in with the ethos of the businesses as much as we can.\u201d <\/p>\n Sharing the space means their collections, usually reserved for markets and online sale, can be accessed by customers at a brick-and-mortar space. They\u2019re both excited to connect with customers and tell the stories of local designers like Marilyn Sainty and Doris de Pont. <\/p>\n \u201cYoung girls were trying on this [1950s cotton dress], which makes me really happy. They\u2019re, like, 22,\u201d says Anstis. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s stuff that could easily just be in a trunk somewhere or thrown away. To see these young kids come in and buy that stuff, which is 75 years old, is really amazing.\u201d <\/p>\n The K\u0101hui Collective <\/p>\nRose Hope and Sarah Firmston, co-founders of Crushes, in their corner Karangahape Rd boutique. Photo \/ Anna Heath <\/p>\n
The Keepers huddle at their NZFW show.<\/p>\n
A runway look from The Keep’s show at Goblin.<\/p>\n
Helen Olivia Anstis and Kate Buckley, owners of Ponsonby boutique Dead Man and Gemini Vintage. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray<\/p>\n
DIY shelving in the Ponsonby boutique. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray<\/p>\n
Items from the shared collections. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray<\/p>\n